Simplify! A Successful Approach for Teaching Developmental Math 2009 AMATYC Conference Las Vegas, NV Presented by: Cindy Alder & Tammy German Snow College - Ephraim, Utah

Who are your students? Snow College - Ephraim, Utah

Developmental Students Capable students who have simply fallen behind. Students that have a specific weakness in mathematics. Students with severe math anxiety. Students that are motivated, but are deficient in generalized learning skills as well as math- specific skills. Students with who have documented learning disabilities, some in multiple areas including mathematical abilities, learning skills, motivation, organizational skills, and others.

Expectations for Developmental Students As instructors, we need to be very clear with our students about our expectations of them for our class. Students are ultimately responsible for their own success. There are some things students just need to memorize. Multiplication Facts Vocabulary Order of Operation Rules Rules of Exponents etc.

Catch Phrases & Stories Snow College - Ephraim, Utah

Catch Phrases & Stories We have found that catch phrases and stories help our students memorize, recall, and retain important mathematical concepts. PE(r)MDAS – Please Excuse(r) My Dear Aunt Sally Slope Story Positive on the way up, negative on the way down, zero on the horizontal, and none (die) on the vertical. Addition & Subtraction of Integers –walk numbers off on a number line. Division Int0 Zero By Zero

Catch Phrases & Stories Plotting Points – Battleship Changing Percents to Decimals and Decimals to Percents (Alphabet) Commutative Properties & Associative Properties (commute – in a community people move around, or commute. Your best friend is always your best friend even if you associate with other people) Greatest Common Factor – Group of Common Terms & Least Common Multiple – include Leftovers. Simplifying Radicals – Dating Story Solving Equations – Balance Quadratic Formula Song (tune of Pop Goes the Weasel)

Catch Phrases & Stories D = rt (Dentist = Rotten teeth) Negative Exponents – to have a positive experience, they must move upstairs or downstairs. Simplifying rational exponents – flower power Inequalities – Alligator Mouth Denominator – Down Factoring sum and difference of cubes. (match the sign, change the sign, plus, plus) Dividing Fractions - Copy Dot Flip Parabolas + –

Make it Visual Snow College - Ephraim, Utah

Make it Visual Venn Diagrams for Finding GCF & LCM Find the GCF and LCM of 12 and 54. Factors of Factors of GCF

Make it Visual Long Bar for Simplifying Fractions

CATCH PHRASE BREAK!! Snow College - Ephraim, Utah Radical Dating

Simplify: Keep it One Way Snow College - Ephraim, Utah

Keep it One Way The Wipe-Out Method for Solving Equations that contain fractions. Conditions: You must have an equal sign (=). In other words, you must be working with an equation not an expression. You must have a common denominator on each and every term in the equation.

WIPE OUT

CATCH PHRASE BREAK!! Snow College - Ephraim, Utah Pop Goes the Quadratic Formula

Keep it One Way Factoring Trinomials.

CATCH PHRASE BREAK!! Snow College - Ephraim, Utah Snow Skiing on the Slopes of Utah

Other Ideas & In-Class Testing Snow College - Ephraim, Utah

Other Ideas 3x5 Notecards Mathematics Journals Graphic Organizers In-class Group Testing Student Presentations Games to reinforce concepts (Bingo, Jeopardy, etc.) Technology Teach Test Taking Strategies Test Corrections (explain why you missed it and rework it correctly.)

In Class Group Testing Students learn to work with others. Students build confidence. Students are able to determine what they know and what they dont know, with a safety zone. Students are able to defend their answers with reasons. Students are better prepared for a personal test, than with a traditional review. Students speak the language of mathematics. Teacher have the opportunity to see what students know by listening.

Snow College - Ephraim, Utah

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